Man kills wife before committing suicide in Pune

Pune: A 34-year-old man allegedly smothered his wife to death and then committed suicide by hanging himself in their apartment here, police said today.

The incident came to light after the deceased woman’s brothers came to the couple’s house in Hadapsar area here last night and found both of them dead, they said.

The deceased — Rakesh Gangurde (34), who worked at a private firm, and his wife Sonali (28) — were married for four years and did not have children.

“As per the purported suicide note left by Rakesh, he was not happy with Sonali, who used to discuss details of family planning and other marital details with her friends on social media and that prompted him to take the drastic step,” an officer attached to Hadapsar police station said.

He said Sonali’s mother, who lives in Nashik, was trying to call her but in vain.

“She (Sonali’s mother) then called her sons, who live in Pune. The brothers of the deceased woman came to their apartment late last night, however, they could not open the door as it was locked from inside. Later, with the help of police they broke open the door and found Rakesh hanging and Sonali lying on the bed,” the police officer said.

“We are yet to receive the postmortem report. Prima facie, it seems that Sonali was smothered to dead,” he said.

A murder case has been registered, police said, adding that further investigation is on.